National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) News

During the Grenfell Tower fire incident in 2017, ineffective fire doors allowed smoke and toxic gases to spread through the building more quickly than should have been possible. Sir Martin Moore-Bick made this finding in the conclusion to Phase 1 of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry. It serves to highlight the importance that fire doors play in protecting life and property. Grenfell Inquiry findings The Grenfell Inquiry findings have impacted subsequent United Kingdom government guidance and proposed...

As part of a continuing campaign, the British Automatic Fire Sprinkler Association (BAFSA), Business Sprinkler Alliance, the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) and European Fire Sprinkler Network (EFSN) have been involved in to influence the Review of BB100 Sprinklers in Schools in England. Zurich Municipal analysis of data on over 26,800 schools in England shows the average fire risk in schools is almost double when compared to that of non-residential buildings. Schools in England are nearly...

NHS Property Services stated that there was a "number of reports of hand sanitizer being the cause of fires when left in vehicles in the hot weather the UK is currently experiencing". It informed NHS employees that the heatwave could cause alcohol-based gels to reach their "flashpoint", which would see them burst into flames when the vapor in them comes into contact with hot air. Sanitizer risks associated with A spark "With the hot summer approaching, there was a concern for our facilities m...

The FIA assisted the National Fire Commercial Transformation Programme (NFCTP) that is led by Kent’s Chief Fire Officer Ann Millington by engaging the members and asking them to leverage their contacts in wider industry sectors to source PPE such as gloves, masks as well as hand sanitizer. The FIA ensured that all suggested suppliers had evidence to prove that they were compliant with the appropriate standards as defined by the technical due diligence process outlined by Kent Fire and Resc...

Thirty-three Fire and Rescue Services (FRS), comprising over 33,500 firefighters, are now benefiting from the Local Authority Collaborative PPE Framework. Launched three years ago in June 2017, the Framework gives UK FRSs access to high quality PPE ensembles and volume discounts through a streamlined procurement process. The Framework was set up in response to calls from government and the industry for FRSs to work together to share best practice and deliver efficiencies. It is run by Kent FRS,...

The fire industry has made it absolutely clear, led by authorized bodies including the BAFE Fire Safety Register, that the current pandemic does not remove the need to comply with any fire safety requirements under the Building Regulations. As we now look beyond the lockdown period, John Allam, Operations Director at Amthal Fire and Security reviews the raft of new proposals demonstrating the Government and industry’s commitment to compliant fire safety and new immediate demands placed on...

This Guidance Note has been prepared by a Special Interest Group(SIG), comprising representatives of FIA member companies, other invited experts in the practice of fire risk assessment in housing premises, and an observer from the National Fire Chiefs Council. Members of the SIG represent companies that carry out, in total, over 40,000 fire risk assessments for multi-occupied residential premises (blocks of flats and maisonettes) per annum. It has been published with the approval of the FIA Boa...

The government announced the publication of its response to the consultation it undertook on ADB, publishing at the same time an amendment to ADB that ‘extends the provision of sprinklers in blocks of high-rise residential buildings to those buildings with a top floor height of 11 meters above ground level’. New guidance on consistent wayfinding signage This announcement also contained ‘new guidance on consistent wayfinding signage’ for fire and rescue service (FRS) per...

The Royal Berkshire Fire & Rescue Service (RBFRS) is supporting the National Fire Chiefs Council’s (NFCC) week-long sprinkler campaign, taking place from 18-24 May, 2020. Sprinklers are widely recognized as the most effective method of fighting the early stages of a fire, can save lives and reduce damage to property. RBFRS’ Area Manager for Prevention and Protection, Doug Buchanan, said “Although times are challenging at the moment, with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we w...

National Drowning Prevention Week has started, which will see Avon Fire and Rescue Service (AF&RS) focus on helping people stay safe around water in line with the Government’s guidance and restrictions that remain in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The dedicated week of action runs from April 20 to April 26 and is led by the National Fire Chiefs’ Council (NFCC) and supported by fire and rescue services all over the UK. During the week messages will be shared on AF&R...

BAFE, British Approvals for Fire Equipment has announced that it welcomes the statement from the UK Home Office, regarding the Key Worker status for all fire industry employees, providing essential services, as published by the FIA, Fire Industry Association. The BAFE statement added that the organization was grateful for the FIA initiative to clarify this. Key Worker Status directly to FIA The Minister of State for Security, the Rt. Hon James Brokenshire, MP in the UK Parliament, has written...

Sprinklers protect life, protect buildings and keep firefighters safer. This was confirmed in a parliamentary debate on fire safety and sprinkler systems at Westminster Hall recently by a wealth of experts.   They work and make complete sense as an important layer of safety, but why is one not making use of them? Is now not the time to finally act on this?  Overall fire safety  Requested by Sir David Amess MP, and former firefighter and MP Jim Fitzpatrick (Chairman and Secretar...

Yorkshire Ambulance Service welcomes additional COVID-19 support from fire and rescue colleagues. Firefighter colleagues from the region’s four fire and rescue services will be joining the Yorkshire Ambulance Service to provide additional support during the current COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic. The 48 volunteers (12 from each fire and rescue service – North Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, and Humberside) will be carrying out tasks including driving ambulances and othe...

AEI Cables highlights the need for the highest quality of cabling for use in sprinkler systems being fitted as part of new fire safety initiatives for high-rise buildings.  New blocks of flats of six storeys or higher could require sprinkler systems under new Government plans being considered in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire.  Meeting relevant stands  Graham Turner, of AEI Cables said, “While the approach to sprinkler systems is positive news, the need for reliable...

BAFSA (British Automatic Fire Sprinkler Association Ltd.), along with Staffordshire Fire & Rescue Service, Dorset Fire & Rescue Service and Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Service, announced that they are disappointed to report that they have made the difficult decision to postpone the joint sprinkler seminars slated to be held on 18th and 24th March respectively due to the current Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic fears. Joint sprinkler seminars postponed The organizations stated in a joint...

FPA’s first Building a safer future seminar of 2020 attracted over 150 delegates to London to hear the latest updates from the public inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire. The expert speakers discussed competency, governmental and regulatory changes ahead, third party certification (TPC), dilemmas for the fire and rescue service (FRS) and toxicity. FPA’s managing director Jonathan O’Neill opened by ‘tracking the progress’ of the government’s recent announceme...

The Fire Protection Association’s (FPA) Building a Safer Future Seminar, held on Monday, January 27th, 2020 in London (sponsored by BAFE), played out the on-going discussion of competency within both the combined construction and fire safety industries. Chair of the event and Managing Director of the FPA, Jonathan O’Neill OBE, opened the seminar affirming his continued “whole-hearted” support for Third Party Certification, stating “I have been banging the drum for...

The Building Safety Bill’s purpose is to implement and enhance regulatory regimes for building safety and construction projects. The bills also aims to give residents ‘a stronger voice in the system, ensuring their concerns are never ignored and they fully understand how they can contribute to maintaining safety in their buildings’. Building Safety Bill It will learn from the lessons of Grenfell Tower fire and will strengthen the whole regulatory system for building safety. T...

The National Fire Chiefs’ Council has called for all residential buildings with four floors or more to be installed with sprinkler systems after a huge fire tore through student flats in Bolton, United Kingdom last month. Fire sprinklers in Tall buildings But a Freedom of Information request from The Argus revealed 44 council-owned housing blocks in Brighton and Hove which are four storeys or taller do not have sprinklers installed. This is a worrying discovery as two of the 44 buildings...

The fire service is changing the way it responds to automatic fire alarms in some types of commercial premises. What do businesses need to know? South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue will no longer automatically mobilize fire engines to automatic fire alarms in some types of commercial premises from 6 January 2020. Currently, SYFRS automatically sends fire engines to the premises the moment a fire alarm goes off and the signal is passed, by a receiving centre, onto 999 control operators. Ins...

The Queen’s speech raised a number of post-Grenfell Tower issues including building safety standards legislation. She declared “My Ministers will bring forward laws to implement new building safety standards.”  Within the official document released alongside this speech, it stresses that the purpose of this legislation will be to “put in place new and modernized regulatory regimes for building safety and construction products, ensuring residents have a stronger voice...

At the UK Construction Week (UKCW) 2019 event, day one focused heavily on the fire safety and what actions are being taken in the construction industry to prevent further tragedy. Attending the show, BAFE observed an industry that is responding to the fire safety issue, but more action is required and fast. This comes just days after Dame Judith Hackitt told the industry to not wait for regulations to ‘raise the bar’. On the UKCW main stage, ‘Building Safe Homes: When will the...

The National Fire Chiefs Council’s (NFCC) Home Safety Week runs from 30th September to the 6th October 2019. The campaign is encouraging households to check smoke alarms are right for their homes needs and will provide them with an early warning in the event of a fire. Most homes have smoke alarms installed (95%) but in nearly 20% of accidental house fires in the UK alarm failed to activate. The most common reasons were the smoke failed to reach the detector was because batteries were eit...

Fire chiefs endorse position papers on hot work safety, the economic impact of firefighter injuries, suicide prevention, the National Firefighter Registry, data analyst/chief information officer, and the Centre for Homeland Defence and Security Fire chiefs from Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States participated in the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Urban Fire Forum (UFF) last week at NFPA headquarters in Quincy, Massachusetts. NFPA President and CEO Jim Pauley welcomed...

Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service (CFRS) is offering businesses fire safety advice as part of the National Fire Chiefs Council's (NFCC's) Business Safety Week 2019. The campaign runs from 9th - 15th September and aims to provide those who are with responsibility for businesses and public buildings with information and advice to reduce the number of fire incidents and false alarms in the workplace, both of which impact business safety and productivity. Reviewing risk assessments The week...

West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service will be joining other fire and rescue services across the UK in promoting business fire safety this week. Business Fire Safety Week runs from 9-15 September and aims to provide businesses with information and advice to reduce the number of fire incidents and false alarms in the workplace, both of which impact business safety and productivity. Protecting Businesses From Arson Statistics show that in 2017-18 there were 19,033 fires in UK businesses with abo...

The Fire Protection Association (FPA) is slated to host a Midlands’ Seminar themed, ‘Building a Safer Future: A Call for Evidence’– an opportunity to discuss the government’s long awaited changes to fire safety regulations, including the Fire Safety Order, Call for Evidence and the Building Safety Consultation. Fire safety proposals Following a commitment to improve fire safety regulations within the built environment, 6th June 2019 saw the British Government prov...

BAFE, the independent register of quality fire safety service providers, releases the revised Scheme Document for their Fire Risk Assessment Scheme (BAFE SP205). Following a thorough review process and a five week public consultation period, BAFE have launched the revised document for Fire Risk Assessment providers. A major point of the review was to maintain the robust certification process whilst acknowledging the large number of sole traders and in-house fire safety teams looking to gain thi...

West Midlands Fire Service (WMFS) announced that it will be hosting two realistic and interactive road traffic collision (RTC) rescue challenges at this year’s Emergency Services Show. Extrication Challenge Taking place at the NEC, National Exhibition Centre Birmingham, United Kingdom from 18 to 19 September, 2019, the Extrication and First Aid & Trauma Challenges will provide an arena for some of the UK’s best rescue personnel to come together and develop their proficiency lev...

The Metropolitan “Metro” Fire Chiefs Association, a Section of the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) and National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) held its 2019 annual conference in Edmonton, Alberta June 8-14. More than 110 Metro chiefs from Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Mexico, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States attended the conference and elected the Association’s 2019-2020 officers and board members. The officers are: Chi...